Welcome to my review of Synchrony credit cards! Other posts in this series:
The retail card extravaganza continues! In my last post, I talked about credit cards issued by Comenity, one of the two major retailer credit card issuers. The other one is Synchrony Bank, which you may remember as GE Capital, or possibly as GE Money. Hopefully they can settle on a name and be done with it.
A couple of points about Synchrony credit cards vis-a-vis Comenity. First of all, compared to Comenity, the credit lines are much lower in my experience. Every Synchrony card I’ve had has started out with a limit of around $1,000. With Comenity, on the other hand, my first card had a five-figure line, and my second one was mid-four figures. Which is to say, manufactured spending and/or large purchases may be more difficult with this bank.
Another point: Comenity does not offer any Amex cards, while Synchrony does. It can be nice to have an extra no-annual-fee Amex or two for things like Small Business Saturday.
Something else I’ve concluded in my dealings with the two banks: Synchrony is larger and perhaps a little more competent. Last time I called Comenity to ask about something, I didn’t get the answer I needed and the rep connected me to a department he shouldn’t have, wasting a lot of time in the process. I called back half an hour later hoping to get a hold of somebody more competent only to be connected to exactly the same rep I had talked to before. There was no wait time either. I’ve never experienced anything like this with a bank before: it felt like he was the only employee and I was the only customer. The point is, CSR roulette may be a little more difficult with Comenity.
My final point: Synchrony’s marketing varies strongly from card to card. The Gap brands cards, for example, seem to get a lot of good marketing offers, while I’ve received no offers whatsoever on my Dillard’s Amex since the first month.
Now then, let’s get started with…
Part 1: The Synchrony credit cards I have
Banana Republic Card
5% back for in-store purchases at Gap brands stores, 1% elsewhere. But that’s not why I got this one. I got it after reading the write-up by Miles Abound wherein he details the ridiculously generous promotions offered for this card. They’ve obviously wised up since then, as I haven’t heard of any uncapped offers recently. But still, I’ve received maybe $100 worth of freebies this year, which isn’t too bad, and hopefully the gravy train will continue. A few months ago I received an offer for 200 points (i.e. $2 worth of gift certificates) per purchase on the card, capped at 5,000 points. An easy $50 for me! A couple of days ago I received an offer for $10 when swiping my card anywhere outside of the Gap brands stores. And recently I got a nice 5X promo for groceries, gas stations, dining, and Costco. Also, there are occasional cardmember discounts which you can combine with your rewards certificates.
Dillard’s Amex
This actually just switched over to Wells Fargo, but I’m going to write about it anyway since it was Synchrony when we got it last year. (Technically it was GE, but whatever.) My verdict on this one: lame. You can read my full review here. The rewards are an anemic 1.3% for purchases at Dillard’s, gas stations, and supermarkets, and 0.67% elsewhere. I’m hoping that somebody at Wells will pull the trigger on a sweet promotion to goose the volume for this thing, but no luck so far. I recently received my first-ever marketing promo after a few years of having the card, but it was pretty weak. One virtue of this card is that it’s a fee-free Amex. You can see more info and a full review of the Dillard’s Amex card here.
Brooks Brothers MasterCard
4% in-store, 1% everywhere else. Not a whole lot of promotions on this one (though I have had a few recently–see here, here, and here), certainly nothing like the Banana Republic card. You do get a $20 certificate every year on your birthday, which is nice, and as with the Banana Republic card, there are occasional cardmember discounts. But then, Brooks Brothers clothing is a little pricier than, say, Old Navy. I’ve effectively earned a shirt in my first year as a cardmember. Nice shirt, but still… You can probably pass on this one.
Toys R Us MasterCard
The most interesting / frustrating one of the four we have. I wrote about the 10% rewards on offer recently as well as the lame gift card rack they have, so take a look at those posts if you’re interested. 10% rewards is really good. If you buy a lot of diapers and baby supplies from Babies R Us, this card might be worth considering. If your local Toys R Us has Kindle or Ebay gift cards on its gift rack, it could conceivably be a good card for you. I haven’t tested out buying gift cards with this thing, so I can’t guarantee you’ll get rewards. They don’t so a ton of marketing promotions, though.
One other thing: rewards certificates expire pretty quickly with this thing. I recently received a $20 rewards certificate (I have no idea why, by the way, as I have no recollection of using the card recently, though frankly my memory tends to suck for the first year of each of our children’s lives) and it expires soon.
Part 2: The Synchrony credit cards I don’t have
BP Visa
This card is interesting in that it offers unlimited 3.75% cash back for the first 90 days. Read my discussion of it here.
Dick’s Sporting Goods MasterCard
This is one I’m curious about because of what looks to be a respectable rewards program. (Edit: I ended up getting this card after all.) With Dick’s rewards program and no credit card, you get 3% back on your in-store purchases. With the credit card, you get 6% back, and that increases to 10% during your birthday month.
Looking at the rewards details a little more closely, it appears the math is off a bit. Here’s the text:
6% back in Rewards** on in-store purchases.
- Earn Points for Purchases
- $1 of in-store purchases = 2 points
- $3 of out-of-store purchases = 1 point
- 300 points = $10 Reward
So if you buy $150 in-store, that’s 300 points, which gets you a $10 reward. 10 divided by 150 is 6.67%. Is my math off? I can’t imagine somebody would want to understate their rewards, but that’s what the math is telling me.
Walmart MasterCard
You can get $25 when signing up for this… big deal. There’s a five cent per gallon discount on gas purchased at Walmart… big deal. Rewards are a flat 1% on everything. Lame.
Ebates Visa
This one might be worth a look for some people. It gives an extra 3% on all purchases done through the ebates portal, and in the regard it seems similar to the Upromise card, which I have written about here. If you’d like to know more, Doctor of Credit wrote it up here, as did Maximizing Money here.
TJX Rewards MasterCard
5 cents per dollar spent at T.J. Maxx, Marshall’s, HomeGoods, and Sierra Trading Post; 1 cent on the dollar everywhere else. I have no idea if any of those stores have gift card racks.
eBay MasterCard / PayPal MasterCard
These appear to be the same thing. Both offer 3 points per dollar spent on gas & restaurants, 2 points per dollar on eBay and PayPal transactions, and 1 point per dollar on everything else. The redemption options look like you’ll get less than a penny per cent, however, which is what this guy says as well. I’m not seeing much of interest here.
Sam’s Club MasterCard
Here’s one that doesn’t get much attention as it should since it offers 5% back on gas purchases (up to $6,000 per year) with no annual fee. It also gives 3% cash back on dining and travel. Note that there is a business version of this card as well as a personal.
Chevron / Texaco Visa
Ten cents per gallon discount if you spend $300 per billing cycle; or a twenty-cent discount if you spend $1,000 per billing cycle. The maximum gas discount per calender year is $300, while giving up $1,000 per month on a 2% cashback card would cost $240. No thanks.
Stein Mart MasterCard
Stein Mart recently renewed its agreement with Synchrony, so it looks like this one will be around for a while. The rewards are lousy, only 1% back on purchases, even Stein Mart purchases. It looks like the big draw with this one is periodic 10% discounts on purchases.
Anybody have any of these?
Thanks for the post, I tried researching this myself, but couldn’t find a good resource and gave up.
Great post! Sitting tight waiting for the next one.
Are there any other Synchrony Amex’s? Last time (PPEMC), Synchrony was a TU pull for me. That’s what it says on creditboards as well. I’d gladly take a TU pull for a fee-free Amex, even without any other perks.
I have tried and tried on the Amazon web site to apply for the amazon store card—-It will not let me put in annual income and when I click submit it goes right back to annual income which is circled in Red—I called you all about that about a month ago and whomever I talked to told me to delete cookies and tenporary files on my browser, which I did—-It didn’t help though—when I contacted Amazon, they told me I would have to contact ya’ll—Please tell me what is wrong—Joyce O. Ward
Amex is not affiliated with Synchrony Bank, and they pull from Experian.
Don’t put the decimal
Lead me to the best outdoor stone bench
I did obtain an amazon card, however I didn’t receive a bill for a couple of months then received a threatening letter and a downgrade on my credit line along with a lot of additional charges. I paid the bill in full and received a nasty mark against my credit report. I have several cards I have now found out are synchrony bank but obtained thru retail outlets. Since the only voice a consumer has is where they spend their money – I have paid off all but two of these cards and will have these two paid off within 30 days. after which I will not use any card issued thru synchrony bank.
not sorry, but ones credit score affects every financial transaction one makes and when there is no
consumer relationship except reward points – I can many other banks that offer not only the same but better and that do understand the consumer’s business is what keeps them in business.
sour grapes – you betcha and – in control of my credit destiny
Synchrony approved me for a Sweetwater music card. I wanted to use it on a limited time special sale. Even though friends of mine have the same card, got the card on line and bought equipment for more money the same day they got the card, Synchrony chose instead to make me wait seven to ten business days to get my card. The will put me past the deadline for the special sale. Of the other merchants and customers I have talked with, I am the only one Synchrony will not allow the merchant to charge the equipment to the account before I get the card and activate it. I have other Synchrony accounts and NEVER had this problem.
I’m trying to straight out my credit and filled out for a synchrony card and did not get approved. Please advise what the credit score needs to be to qualify. thanks.
I had a Walmart, American Eagle, Gap, Old Navy, and Amazon card all from Synchrony bank. I never really used any of the cards and just applied for them when I went shopping one day at these local retailers except for the Amazon. I did apply for the Amazon because I wanted to order something.
Anyway because I never used any of the cards Synchrony decided to close my accounts. I don’t car about them closing the cards, but does anyone know if this affect your credit and FICO score. What really bad is I made a purchase using my Amazon, American Eagle, Gap, and Old Navy cards and as soon as I paid the balance off they decided to close my accounts? Don’t know why but I’d never do business with this bank again.
When I applied for my first Synchrony card my FICO was pretty low @ 655. I was approved for the card and started getting pre-approved offers right away.
Thanks for the legwork. I noticed this a while back, and set it aside. Then I started thinking about it 1 company holds 5 of the credit cards I have. They are no Annual Fee cards. The only reason I have them is for the cashback or earned credit on the card. They never make any money from me. I pay my full balance the moment I receive my card statement. Anyhow I just got curious last night. Wondering just how many cards they Hold/Own. Again I thank you for your time looking into this.
I recently applied for an STEIN MART credit card and received a denial. The reason was PREVIOUSAPPLICATION APPROVED.
I do not remember ever having a card, and I now want one.
ANN WINTERROWD
300 Walnut Ave.
Azle, Texas
I have the Synchrony card at the bottom of the page that you ask “Anybody have one of these” I was researching where I can use a Synchrony credit card and your post came up. We applied at a high end discount furniture store and ended up with a Synchrony.card as pictured
Ann first I would remove your address as no-one on here should need that, Then I would contact them and found when and where you were approved and for a copy of everything as you don’t have the card and don’t remember opening the account. Sounds like you may have identity theft going on, so I would check on this right away,
If Synchrony closed an account you opened, be thankful. I have Belk and Banana Republic cards and plan to get rid of both ASAP. When they were GE Capital they screwed up a fraud transaction and filed a bad credit report against my high school age cardholder while she worked at Macy’s and she had followed all their procedures. This resulted in questions when she applied for her first mortgage loan after graduating college. No one at GE Capital was willing to spend any time resolving the mistake. I just had another miserable experience trying to communicate with them after my husband the primary card holder became disabled. In summary, I will not do business with them regardless of what discount privileges these stores offer. I prefer to pay full price for the same or similar merchandise at other stores. Beware of giving them SS number or any personal data as they cannot be trusted to use it accurately.
I was so grateful for Synchrony, they approved me for Care credit which can be used on veternarian care and some doctors and dentists. I had an emergency with my cat and applied on line and was able to use the credit immediately. It is very annoying that I cant pay my bill online with a debit card,but I have bad credit and couldnt believe they approved me.While the fees are high and there are no perks Ill not complain just bc it came in more than handy.
Absolutely love Synchrony ,will always use for all my credit needs.
I am very thankful for Synchrony Bank for giving me a chance at re-building my credit. My credit score was 687 at the time of my approval. I immediately begin receiving offers from the bank. I am looking forward to continuing my relationship with them.
I have 9 Synchrony Bank credit cards, so I think I have enough. I’m very happy with each card, which has their own perks. I try not to run up a balance I can’t pay off in 30 days. Although I just bought some new furniture, and I get 6 months no interest as long as it’s paid off in 6 months.
So where is the list of cards issued by / thru Synchrony Bank?
Have credit cards with Steinhart, TJ’s & Penney’s who use Synchrony for their billings. I receive mine through email and they have so many errors i.e.- I get Steinmart’s with Penney’s name on them, consistently??? They also missed sending me one billing which I never received which resulted in my being reported to the credit bureau, which had NO bad reports. When I double checked why I hadn’t had a billing from Steinmart, I paid it immediately, but unfortunately too late for Synchrony. I have since stopped using those credit cards due to this issue and only use my Visa card thru Costco.
My advice is to watch them closely.
It affect your credit score in a bad way. They just closed my American Eagle account. I was never late and paid if off. It was dormant over the holidays in 2016, had the card open for about a year and they just sent me a letter stating they closed it. I will never apply for any card from synchrony bank.
I have that one too. I have no idea where I can use it other the the bike shop I got it through. Trying to find a list of local retailers that accept it.
I have the Marvel Mastercard, Walmart Mastercard, Carcare One, JCPenney, and the Chevron/Texaco Card. By far the best promotions come from Marvel. All these cards use the Synchrony basic setup as far as handling the accounts except the Carcare One which uses their main site.
Overall I like the way my accounts are handled and the customer service also seems competent. Synchrony seems to have a working formula.
Hi John, what sorts of promotions does Marvel do?
The normal offer is 3% statement credit on movies, entertainment, restaurants, and Marvel.Com purchases; 1% statement credit on everything else. There is a $25 statement credit for making a purchase within the first three months. The additional promotions have included free ticket contest to a movie premier (which I and many others won) and two months ago a 50$ statement credit if you spent $500 (this was a December promotion). Purchases made at Marvelshop.Com are 10% off everyday as well. The design choices are perfect for Marvel fans and was entirely why I bothered to get the card. Turns out to be one of my most used cards. I like restaurants and it beats my Discover Gas and Restaurant card (which gives 2%). I also like movies and live events. With cost of some of the live events the 3% covers the parking.
I was curious if you had account alerts or auto pay setup on either account.
It’s a Care Card…there are different kinds. I have Carcare One. It works at select repair shops, auto stores, and gas stations. My friend has one for his pets (not sure how it works). I would give them a call so you can see what kind of card you have.
I was curious what they said when you called them to ask why they didn’t give you a temporary account number especially since you have other accounts with them.
Was this all done online? Im just wondering if you ever got an actual card and setup your account. Also I assumed you made some sort of purchase is that correct? Did their emails from Amazon get spammed? I had that happen for another card.
Worst bank ever. Just paid off my $300 Walmart store card and this bank reduced my credit to $100. They did the same thing to my Paypal Smart Connect. Will be cancelling my Old Navy and Amazon cards which are associated to this bank.
Just because you didn’t receive the bill for a couple of months, doesn’t mean you don’t owe them. You agreed to pay the minimum every month, regardless of whether or not the bill made it to you. It’s your responsibility to make sure that you’re receiving the bill or log into your online account to pay it every month. You missed monthly payments and your credit score reflects that. Your lack of responsibility does not mean Synchrony is a bad company or that the Amazon Store Card is a bad card.
Set up autopay for the minimum so you don’t screw yourself by missing payments if you don’t get that email or that mailed bill doesn’t show up. Pay manually if you want to pay more than the minimum. Check in every so often to ensure autopay is functioning properly. You are in control of your credit destiny.
I only have one card from synchrony bank… Which is Walmart…. I haven’t applied to any other of their card cuz they turned me down… But commenity is sooo easy to get approved…. I want to apply for rooms to go
I learned through synchrony that you have to be diligent regarding retail cards that are sent to you after in-store or online approval, and contact them if you do not receive a card within ten days. I have Walmart, Amazon, and TJ Maxx with them. After the initial two week wait and a mix up with an apt number with Amazon, everything was cleared up.
I also have Comenity cards (wayfair, Simply be, express, NY & Co) and can honestly say that Synchrony is better, initial lines were low but after six months, CLI and an upgrade from store card to Mastercard. CSR is awesome, never a wait and very helpful reps, easy to understand bills and online set up is easy.
I applied for the care credit card and immediately got approved with a not so great score they approved me for $1000.00 paid what I got off within 3 mos and 3 mos later. I requested a credit increase and they approved me for $6000 🙂 I also applied for the TJX rewards credit card and was approved with a $200 credit which was not allot but it definitely helps, I also requested an increase after having the card only 2 months and they approved me for $500 good thing about these cards is that I pay them off before I even get a bill and pay the care credit within 3 months. Having these cards have actually been helping my credit score tremendously so I have to say that Synchrony has helped out big time in approving me for these cards.
Sweetwater music uses Synchrony. Wait for the 36 or even 48 month no interest sales that happen 3 to 5 times a year. If you miss one sale, it come around again.
I have 4 Synchrony credit cards:
1. Wal Mart
2. Sams Club
3. Amazon
4. QVC
They periodically run your credit. They did this to me and deemed not credit worthy anymore and lowered my limit in 2 of my cards so far. This brought my credit score down. I hadn’t missed a payment or been late. When I called themy to ask what happened the answer I got was, “you’ll get a letter in the mail explaining. our decision “. I am unhappy with that kind of customer service. I will be paying off the balance of these cards and I won’t use the card anymore. I would have liked to have know this policy in advance as I wouldn’t have opened the accounts.
I to will no longer use any card associated with synchrony bank. I have had several department store cards issued by them that have been paid off and they choose to close them and the ones they haven’t closed they reduce the amount of credit. This obviously has a negative effect on my credit so thanks for nothing Will definitely spread the word about them
I had a old navy account with them also, they closed my account when I paid them off. My payment was not late on payments, and when I reapplied was denied. They don’t have to worry about me any more, spend my money at Bank of Comenity.
I too have had my credit limits dropped on my amazon card after I paid the balance in full. I missed one payment on another synchronicity account. This has affected my credit score because my percentage of credit being used is now higher, lowering my credit score. I suggest checking out the reviews of synchronicity bank on the Internet. There are hundreds of complaints and reports to the Better Business Bureau and requests for class action lawsuits against Synchronicity bank. I came across one customers story who stated the bank runs monthly hard credit inquiries when you have an account and even after you close your account. If you read their disclaimer onot Thierry credit card application the take no responsibility for any error that may occur with posting payments, late fees, incorrect reporting of interest etc…. stay away from this bank and let those stores know who work with synchronicity that you will not sign up for credit as long as they use this bank.
That’s good news but you are in the minority. Hope you don’t have a mix up and need to contact them for help.
Every large bank is going to have thousands of complaints and lawsuits. They are in the money business and dealing with millions of people. Besides, unhappy people are always more likely say something about a company the BBB…that is why they are there. I treat them like any other bank. I use them for a service. Just like any other service I base my opinion on my own experiences. I have not had any issues. Doesn’t mean I won’t in the future.
Based on Synchrony’s growth I think many people are happy with the company. They took over the responsibilities of many high risk retail cards in the past and turned them stable. Many retailers from large corporations to small private owned companies trust their judgement in interpreting FICO and enforcing each particular company’s rules of engagement with their clients. Many of the complaints I see here are really things that could happen with any company. I am currently happy with Synchrony. If I were to become unhappy and they didn’t help I would simply change companies like any other service. When I have needed help I have not had any issues resolving my problems so far. If I did, I would change companies.
Every month I paid the full balance on my Old Navy card until February when my lupus flare got me behind. I paid the full bill 15 days late and got the most insulting letter about how I compared unfavorably with other customers, they lowered my limit and harmed my credit. I am boycotting Synchrony cards and merchants and will post on social media my experience with their malicious anti consumer practice. Yes I have responsibility to pay my bills on time but they went way beyond appropriate response for a $49 balance that was paid in full within 15 days of due date. On Google I found other stories of Synchrony Bank acting in malicious ways to damage credit ratings of consumers, in some cases where no late payments occurred. I encourage people to boycott Synchrony Bank until they stop abusive business practices.
You missed two that work with Synchrony. Old Navy and JC Penny. Both of which I will no longer shop with due to Synchrony Bank.
These companies need to understand that Synchrony pulling someone’s credit report without their authorization is not proper.
Closing out accounts on customers for no reason at all is not proper.
The list of companies that you have that work with Synchrony aren’t ones I typically shop with.
Wish the companies would listen to the consumers when it comes to dirty banking business.
Stay away from ANY company that does business with Synchrony. When you go to pay your balance in full, they often times will close your account prior to doing so. I don’t know how they haven’t had a class action suit filed against them. They are shady as all get out. They hurt the businesses that they are associated with.
Synchrony is NOT synchronized with their card holders. They pick and choose what card holder to phuck with as if they get some sort of commission. I think it’s a back door CONspiracy the credit card companies have adopted as a retaliation tactic for the government finally GOVERNing these predatory credit card companies and finally making them accountable for the costly/inflated/”loan shark” like fees.
I have an Evine card 🙁 Long story short…run as far and fast as you can in the opposite direction of this bank! They throw temper tantrums in the form of fees, c.l.d. (credit limit decreases), account closures, etc. I was pleased with quality of jewelry they offer ( Invicta, Samuel B. Artisan jewelry and more.) I was even more elated with the equal monthly payment option.
Cons:
Their no warning credit limit decreases.
Intelligence insulting marketing approach
( Sending discounts to lure you to make purchases but freezing your option to use equal payment, lowering your credit limit to only give you an availability spending limit of maybe 10% of a $1,000 limit). What can you buy for $10-20 that ISN’T an ‘As Seen On TV’ product?
They DON’T reward loyalty nor perfect payment history.
Credit bureau reporting tactics/practices are questionable.
Thank you
Synchrony seems to have cornered the market in almost all areas of credit. Personally they are on my list to pay off… Not only because I am lining Trump’s pocket, but just because it is the smart thing to do. I really just hate their guts. Have made many. many months of paying my bills a n-I-g-h-t-m-a-r-e!!!
Here is some insight on why credit card companies will close your account it cost banks money to maintain your account so if they’re not making any money from you then they will close your account most companies will close your account after 12 months of inactivity. Many major credit card brands will do this also you just tend to use those cards more so you haven’t noticed any of those accounts been closed because you don’t leave those dormant for as long but Visa MasterCard and American Express but I’ll close your account if you don’t use them. Only get store brand credit cards for cards you use often I love my Amazon card I have a vision impairment and I don’t drive so I purchase a lot of things from Amazon I get a great 5% cashback reward and can apply it right to my purchases when I get an offer warts however I use my Amazon card frequently so it makes sense to have one there’s a great reward and I use it a lot I never shop at banana republic I never shop at American Eagle and I never shop at the gap so even if I went in there one time and they had some kind of great sale saying you’ll get 20% off today’s purchase if you get a gap card I wouldn’t apply for that card because I wouldn’t use it very often and when credit card companies close your accounts it reduces your credit age and can damage your credit also if you have a credit card and you make a charge it’s your responsibility to know what terms that credit card is offered you if your grace period is only 26 days then you know after you’ve made a purchase that that bill will be due within 26 days of your first purchase so if you don’t pay the bill and you get a late fee then that’s your responsibility you can’t blame the bank for closing your account after three months of nonpayment any bank will do that I also have a Best Buy rewards card the rewards are quite good and I’m also eligible for sales the regular customers aren’t eligible for I like that I like the rewards and I like the extra benefits I shop at Best Buy quite frequently one of the drawbacks is that there reward certificates expire but I know that they expire and I pay close attention to it and I don’t let them expire if I have a $10 rewards card then I’m going to Best Buy and I spent $10 I always k use them. Also if you’re worth certificate have expired some banks are fairly understanding if you call them and you ask them to reset them some of them will Best Buy has reset one or two gift cards that I’ve let expire but calls on the other hand another charge that I have does not if I don’t use my Cole’s rewards they are gone forever tough for me i’m sorry about the typos I’m dictating this on my iPhone I hope you find the information useful regardless of the mistakes that Siri has made in interpreting my dictation I hope that you found this information helpful
The exactly thing happen to me. They lower my credit limited and then closed my account. I am paying my cards off too.
I had tried to balance my credit card utilization by applying for more credit. I applied for 2- Comenity Cards, a Wayfair and Forever 21. I was approved right away for $1000 on each card, a month went by and found out that both cards was cancelled due to the amount of credit inquiries on my report. I requested Comenity to remove their inquiries from my credit report and they refused. Synchrony has been great to me.
Have billing disputes readjust your retail account to reflect never past due and reverse all fees and interest. They should send a paid in full letter and a refund for any difference. Ask for an American call center agent. Be sure to get a letter confirming that your credit rating has been restored!
Good luck!
This is bad with all these Synchrony horror stories.. QVC which uses Synchrony and HSN uses Comenity. I have an HSN card. QVC just bought out HSN. I have a feeling this isn’t going to be a good thing when it comes to credit cards now.
This just happened to me with a JC PENNY card. I paid in full and on time all of the time. Limit was only 200.00 and stores are closing so no big deal.
This establishment is plain mean and evil! I have unpleasant experiences with them. They closed a couple of my other cards for no apparent substantial reasons except that I wasn’t doing well with one card. I did not use these (closed) cards for a while and they still closed them anyway. Most of these retail stores under this bank will lose a bunch of customers due to this bank’s unprofessional practices. They are wickedly ruining people’s credit ratings. I am now very careful when applying retail stores credit card and make sure it’s not under Synchrony Bank.
I can’t stand this bank and its practices and once my cards are paid
off, I will never open another card under this bank.
Yes, Synchrony sucks and I won’t be doing business with them any longer which in the long run hurts their relationships with their retail store partners. They lowered my credit lines on my Dicks, Amazon, Walmart, and JC Penney accounts without warning before hand. No late payments and some nonsense reasons in their letters to me about income to debt ratio’s..
I will be closing all of my retail Synchrony accounts and not shopping at Dicks, Walmart, or JC Penney going forward as my personal boycott/protest.
Well I see a lot of people having problems with synchrony but I haven’t yet had this problem.
Hh Gregg 1500 raised to 3500
Rooms to go 2000
Belks 600 raised to 1100
Wal-Mart MasterCard 500 raised to 800 then raised to 1200
Chevron/Texaco 500
Macys 600 raised to 1000.
So far so good. I love them. I don’t have any complaints.
Guitar center 500
I find this information to be very interesting because my experience with Synchrony VS Commenity is just the opposite.. Walmart card SL 700, increased thru chat to 5000 after 3 months, Amazon store card 400 SL increased thru chat after 6 weeks to 5000, Lowes SL 700 incresed thru chat after 3 months. Commenity gave me a 250 SL on Overstock, I asked thru customer care to purchase a computer and asked them to increase my limit by 170 dollars( just for this purchase since you can only submit one form of payment) they would NOT BUDGE. I will never spend a dime with a commenity card, I am sure they will close them eventually. I couldn’t find nicer things to say about Synchrony 🙂
Just an FYI – tripped over a new Synchrony card – Zulily!
To start, I want to say I am sorry because I don’t want to sound rude. I don’t know the whole situation, but from what I read, it sounds as if you got a card, you made a purchase, and you did not get a bill for a few months after making your purchase. Now your complaining because you did not make a payment until you got a bill in the mail and because it’s been over 30 days a negative mark is placed on your credit score. If is your situation…… Then wake up please. It’s time to grow up and stop blaming everyone else for your mistakes. I’m sure you knew that once you made a pu.rchase using this card, then you knew a payment was due by the next month. Not paying your bills and blaming the card company, saying you did not get a bill is just childish. If every company out there worked that way, then none would be in business, and I mean relying on the post office to deliver bills and wait for a payment. You knew a payment was due, so just pay your bills. It’s people and reasons like this that makes most of the companies not give cards out honest people, who may have made a mishap in there past, but at least admitted to it.
Sounds fair to me
Pandora is another Synchrony card. They started me with $1500 credit and have increased it to $2500. I just asked them to reduce it to $200 as I don’t intend to use this card again. But not because I am unhappy with Synchrony. In fact, just the opposite. I’ve had nothing but good results and service with them (I have Banana Rep, Walmart, JC Penny, and Pandora cards). I’m shocked after reading the comments here. I hope they continue to do right by me and feel so sorry for those of you who have had a bad experience. A NOTE FROM THE WISE-NEVER CLOSE A CREDIT CARD ACCOUNT! I did that when getting ready to apply for a mortgage-BIG MISTAKE! I damaged my credit score big time-open, long standing, paid off accounts are a good thing. Better to freeze the account or reduce the credit limit.
I realize you said you don’t intend to use the card, but reducing the limit from $2500, down to $200 can affect your credit utilization. Just a thought.
I am very disappointed with Synchrony Home. This card got changed from HHGREG card to the Synchrony Home card. I’m guessing so people will utilize the card they sent out a promotion to get poepl to use it. I received a insert in my statement for a promotion for $50 credit if I made a purchase of $499 or more. That sounded really good because there was also the deferred payment. I didn’t see the credit so I called to inquire about it a couple months after the purchase knowing that it would take a couple months after the purchase. I was told that it would be 2-3 billing cycles after the promotion ended. So I called again around February, they looked into it and saw that it hadn’t been applied so they submitted a request. A few months later I called again and they told me they saw it on my account a credit and it should be showing up soon. I called again today and now they are telling me that I don’t qualify for the promotion and I will not be receiving the credit. I’ve been trying to get the promotional purchase paid and that $50 credit would have really helped. Being a young widow with 6 boys the money is really tight, and this was a way for us to get a nicer tv and not have to have all the money at once.
Synchrony is a terrible organization that should be shut down by the BBB. I had a Chevron card. Paid on time in full every month for years. My credit rating over 800. Then they decided to stop honoring purchases seemingly with no rhyme or reason. It would take multiple calls to get the card working again. Then the account was hacked. Someone in another state purchased hundreds of dollars every day maxing out the card plus another $500. They happily honored all of those purchases despite all the red flags. Then the reported to credit bureaus that I had maxed out the card plus $500 an d my credit plummeted. I contacted them multiple times to contest the charges. It took them two weeks to remove the charges and reactivate the card. When my credit will recover is unknown. In short they will cut you off for no reason and allow suspect charges then screw your credit. Avoid at all costs!!!!!!
this bank started me with 500.00 credit then raised to 2500.00 then down to 1100.00 then down to 800.00 then with a balance of 355.00 my credit limit went down to 370.00 with only about 15.00 available. I have excellent credit (780 score) I did not mis or late at any time for the last year. this all happened in 2017. The reasons the letter stated did not apply to me. When I questioned it, all I received was excuses that they tried to tell me. I paid the account off within the billing cycle but they sent me a balance that I owe them for interest. they tried to confuse me with the billing cycle and the due day. If you pay the balance off within the billing cycle (not due date) there should not be any interest to accumulate. My advice is to understand the billing cycle and the due date. They did remove the charge after I let then know that I knew the difference and I don’t owe them anything.
I agree, will not use or apply for credit from this merchant. that includes JC Penny.
If you do not spend money in a timely manner with synchrony bank then they will lower or decrease your credit limit or even close your account. This is intentional with no regard for the consumer I believe! They want you to spend money and get indebt so they can benefit from you. social media is the way to bring awareness to this practice.